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Once set up, you can access and control your device through your account on the D-Life website. In the case of the network camera you can view video from the camera through the site, or you can choose to share that video with other D-Life account holders. The website creates an online community - like a personal networking site, but connected to real world hardware.

Other D-Life products will include a phone, voicemail device, and photo frame. The phone can make calls to other D-Life owners using the D-Life number of their

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phone. Landline users can call your D-Life phone by adding a simple prefix number to the phone's own D-Life number. You can buy credit from the website if you want to call land line numbers. The voicemail box connects to your usual phone line and you can then access messages via the internet through the D-Life website.

All D-Life products are designed for, and supplied with, powerline network adaptors. A black adaptor plugs into your router, while white adaptors are used for all the other devices. The devices themselves are specially designed to draw power from their adaptors, so there's only one cable to connect. The digital photo frame has its own built-in adaptor, so you simply plug it into the mains.

Proprietary systems often create more limitations than advantages, but D-Life seems well thought through. The possibilities for adding new capabilities to both the website and hardware range are intriguing. We'll have to wait until April before the first hardware is available, but the website is already live.